Kill-switch. A funny little word. But a word that made all the difference. All the difference. She shut down the system. Ash did something very, very un-nerving to most living things. He smiled. His head, forming a strange rictus grin, nodded astutely as he looked at the Lord Protector. It was that one little word that told Ash everything he needed to know about this. He could've held a paralegal to this job. Oh, well. Time to look good.
"The only way," he began with a cool, measured tone, "You could be aware of any such action or command is if you had witnessed it happen. That indicates that you had operatives actively slicing in the Baktoid Network at the time of its operation." He said calmly. "Those slicing maneuvers were detected by Wren's systems. You forcibly took control of private property. Now, given that it was a state of emergency, while ethically lacking, that's understandable. What's not understandable," he said calmly, "was your inability to communicate this to anyone in command prior. After the explosion of the Dubious Intent, and the bombardment of the facility in question, it is a reasonable assumption that the hi-jacking of the rocket systems on board the satellite were being carried out by a party with malicious intent," he said, asserting his point. "We now know it was your people, and the intent was not likely to make the situation worse. However, it just as easily could have been the CIS. Or those terrorists that attackd Fondor recently. Or jsut some Sith tryign to be the next Velok and see how many he can kill in a career," he said, gesturing with his hands as if to demonstrate that the entire universe was full of crazy people--which was not a hard argument to make, frankly.
"Now, I'm certain the Baktoid Board of directors would love to know why your people were on that shipyard, slicing into their data," he said calmly. "But, in all honesty, Miss Wren made a command decision when faced with an unknown threat. Sadly, it was the wrong one, and one that ended untold lives. However, you've no proof her motivation was hostile. You've no proof that her actions were the worst, or even the msot dangerous, of all solutions. And, you have no proof she would have acted in sounder judgement had your operatives conducted themselves in a less hostile manner. You invade this woman's property, infiltrate her networks, explain nothing, then have the gall to act like she comitted the atrocity by not letting your people do whatever it is you wanted, no questions asked or reason given. As an occupying force, you had a responsibility to mitigate damage. You prioiritized intelligence gathering over it, and it backfired, endangering and ending a still untallied number of lives on Druckenwell."
He let the silence hang after that statement. He wanted to see if Ater's conviction would waver. "So, I will ask: Why is Alli Wren the only one being arraigned? Are not the people who force their way into her network without reasonable identification or authorization equally liable for this disaster?"
"Your request for reparations is a reasonable one," Ash continued. "While Miss Wren is not criminally guilty, in any foreseeable or proveable way, a certain amount of liability should be considered for having made this poor decision, with poor information, and no clear alternative," he said calmly. "My client was backed into a corner, but that doesn't mean she lacks sympathy. Liquidation of the company's assets in Protectorate Space is a foolish method of creating said reparations, however. That kind of punitive petty measure will delay the aid further. Now, if we can approximate an equivalent number of credits, some from Baktoid's reserves and some from miss Wren's own holdings, as a show of genuine concern for the people of Druckenwell."
"Now, unless we have some proof that Alli Wren knew exactly who your men were, and actual communications indicating your intent to mitigate damage, your poor communication implies no proof of callous disregard, which is a staple in manslaughter, even of the negligent variety. My client could not have known your hi-jacking was done to save lives, and could not have known that disabling the shipyard's systems was the best possible choice, given her limited information. Since the actions as prescribed were not knowingly directed at you, or any other Omega Protectorate forces, and were done in defense of her own livelihood with no reasonable alternative, I don't think you've got any charges left. You lost any good reason to prosecute the minute you sent operatives onto that shipyard to slice it, and decided that whatever dirt you want on Alli Wren was worth the lives of so many on Druckenwell."
(OOC: Sorry for sheer length, but, well, he is a lawyer.)
[member="Ayden Cater"]
